Vibrio anguillarum J-O-1 Type Infection in Farmed Greater Amberjack Seriola dumerili

Abstract

Mortalities were observed in farmed greater amberjack Seriola dumerili immunized with a commercial Vibrio anguillarum serotype J-O-3 vaccine. ​Symptoms of infection included extruded eye, opacity of cornea, exfoliation of head epithelium and operculum redding. ​Bacteria isolated from infected fish were identified as V. anguillarum serotype J-O-1 based on APE20E, anti V. anguillarum J-O-1 serum, species-specific multiplex PCR assays, and 16S rRNA sequence analysis. ​Experimental infection revealed that the isolate was pathogenic to greater amberjack. ​In a vaccine trial, mortality of fish immunized with formalin-killed cells (FKC) of the isolate was significantly lower than that of control fish, suggesting that FKC of the isolate prevents greater amberjack from V. anguillarum serotype J-O-1 infection.